BartholoNews · Apparently, movie star Samuel L. Jackson was spotted by one of our group members...
Transcript of BartholoNews · Apparently, movie star Samuel L. Jackson was spotted by one of our group members...
The weekly newsletter of St Bartholomew’s School.
CHINA CHALLENGE In the Easter holidays 31 Year 8 students and
five members of staff went to Shanghai on the
China Challenge Easter Study Tour for nine
days. All students were outstanding
ambassadors for St Bart’s and everyone had an
excellent time.
Annie Tuff and Sophie Powell describe the
trip.
On Tuesday 8 April we made our way to
Heathrow to start our adventure to China.
When visiting there we were given many
opportunities to experience new things. We
had an amazing time
visiting places such as
the Shanghai Oriental
TV Tower where we
had the chance to
view Shanghai from
above. We also
enjoyed a boat ride
along the Huang Pu
River at night time as
well as a second boat
tour through an
ancient water town.
On several other days, we were kindly
welcomed into the Aurora Middle School where
we tried many different activities such as
calligraphy and traditional mask painting. We
also joined in with a music lesson and learnt a
famous Chinese song, Jasmine Flower. We
were also given the opportunity to spend the day
with a Chinese student and their family. They
helped us to understand more about Chinese
culture. After our day out with the families we
watched a breath taking acrobat show.
Our China experience was altogether amazing;
we learnt so much and had a great time.
BartholoNews
6 May 2014 www.stbarts.co.uk Issue No: 721
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FILM AND MEDIA TRIP TO LA In the early hours of a rainy Monday morning,
a coachload of Film and Media Studies students
departed from the school gates, next stop
Heathrow airport. Standard airport procedure
followed, going through check-in and security
with no holdups, ending in only an hour or so
wait in the departure lounge.
The direct flight to Los Angeles took a solid 11
hours, but was made bearable by a good host of
inflight entertainment, such as Oscar nominated
films like Gravity and Dallas Buyer’s Club. Of
course, sleeping was a welcome choice,
something I reckon most of us chose to take
part in.
Landing at LAX (Los Angeles International)
was a smooth process, with us getting through
security and baggage reclaim in under an hour.
After a short wait for our coach (driven by the
friendly Oscar, who would shuttle us around all
week), we headed straight for the Sportsmen’s
Lodge Hotel, our stay for the trip. Our stay at
the hotel was quite enjoyable, with evening
meals of American, Mexican, and Italian
provided by them for the first three nights.
Our first outing consisted of sightseeing many
famous landmarks in L.A. First came an open-
top bus tour ranging from Beverly Hills to
Sunset Boulevard. Afterwards, a short tour
inside the world famous Grauman’s Chinese
Theatre, which boasts the third largest IMAX
cinema screen in the U.S., and of course the
hand and footprints of many movie stars. We
then took a short walk down the Walk of Fame,
with other 2500 stars set into the sidewalk.
Climbing back on to our coach, we set off to
the Griffith Observatory, set high in the hills of
L.A. Standing on its roof gave sweeping views
of the city and beyond, allowing for fantastic
pictures. Inside was a range of scientific
displays, such as a periodic table made up of
each individual element it displays. Our day
ended with a trip to Santa Monica, host of the
famous Santa Monica Pier.
Day two started with a lesson on filmmaking
with the New York Film Academy. Topics
ranged from kinds of lights and rigging to types
of camera lenses. We left with new insight in
the film industry, and with free shirts and hats
to boot. Next up was our tour of the Warner
Brothers Studio. Starting with a short film on
the history of the company and the studio, we
were then split in to three groups and boarded
separate shuttles to go about the backlots and
sound stages. A small town is located in the
centre of the backlot, home to various TV
programmes like Friends and Pretty Little
Liars. The sound stages themselves, essentially
huge warehouses to be filled with sets,
backdrops and lighting, have seen the likes of
films such as The Dark Knight trilogy,
Inception, and Harry Potter, and TV shows
including Wheel of Fortune and The Big Bang
Theory. We also visited a museum full of
various costumes and props from many Warner
Brother films.
Day three was a full day at Universal Studios
Hollywood. Both theme park and movie studio,
the day included attractions themed on films
like Jurassic Park, The Mummy, and
Transformers, and my personal favourite,
Universal House of Horror. Also there was a
studio tour similar to the Warner Brothers tour,
taking us around the Universal backlot, home
of Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives,
the crashed Boeing 747 in War of the Worlds,
and an immense green screen used for films
like Pacific Rim and Casino Royale. After a
day at Universal, we spent the evening in
CityWalk, the large run of all kinds of shops
and restaurants, located just next to the gates of
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Universal Studios. Our evening meal was
provided by Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on
CityWalk, its namesake taken from the famous
Forrest Gump.
Our final day was a walking tour around the
Sony Pictures studio. We were first shown a
short film about Sony Picture’s history and
relationship with other studios, and then
proceeded on to the tour. This studio is home to
various films like The Amazing Spiderman,
Men in Black, and Ghostbusters, and TV shows
such as Breaking Bad. We were also shown a
Foley Stage, a room in which most of the audio
for films is produced. The sound of someone
being thrown against a car door could be a
hammer hitting a car door, or a zombie’s head
exploding could be a cabbage being crushed
and edited in post-production. When our tour
concluded, we set off for the airport.
Checking in was no different to our experience
back home, and we all got through with no
problems. The wait in the departure lounge was
short, and we boarded with no issues.
Apparently, movie star Samuel L. Jackson was
spotted by one of our group members boarding
our flight, so hopefully there were no snakes on
our plane.
Landing after a relatively short nine hour flight,
we were back on home ground. Getting on our
coach at the airport, we arrived back at school
ahead of schedule, around 2 pm. Overall, this
trip proved to be an unforgettable experience,
one I could recommend not just to future
students, but to anyone, from the biggest film
fanatic to just a casual viewer.
Jacob Cave 13P2
YEAR 11 GRADUATION We look forward to this year’s cohort
graduating, and receiving certificates for their
efforts.
Students should be completing their Passports
to graduate, or to graduate with Merit or
Distinction. All passports should have been
signed by tutors and given to House Heads
before Friday 2 May. Each student who has
done this will receive a personalised certificate,
signed by the Headteacher.
These achievements, and others, will be
recognised at a special celebration assembly
during the morning of Friday 9 May 2014 in
the Hall. As it is a special day, uniform is not
required. The dress code for the day is smart,
business dress, with the best dressed receiving
a discount on their Prom tickets. Students
should not spend money on clothing for
Graduation Day. Students may bring a shirt
or leaving book into school for signing on the
day.
As we look towards the GCSE examination
period, and students aim to perform to the best
of their abilities, the following are targets for
all Year 11 students:
Completion of all coursework
Full attendance at all lessons and
revision sessions
Full commitment to study, both at
school and at home
100% attendance and punctuality for
all exams
Full school uniform to be worn to all
lessons, revision sessions and exams
Respectful behaviour towards other
students, staff and school property
Return of any books to the library not
required for exams, and thereafter all
texts
Completion of any outstanding
sanctions such as detentions
Students who meet all of these requirements
can look forward to a successful series of
examinations followed by:
Entry to Sixth Form
Access to Further Education or
employment supported by positive
references
An enjoyable Prom – tickets for the
event on Wednesday 25 June will be
on sale after half-term.
Mr N Cook – Assistant Headteacher Years 7-11
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THE ST BART’S SUPER QUIZ
The St Bart’s Super Quiz took place at the end
of the spring term. The students with the
highest scores in each House and year group
from the whole school general knowledge quiz
were invited to make up a House super team to
compete for the Super Quiz prize, and as part
of the House championships.
All four teams were given a table surrounding
a safe on a central table. Each team had an
envelope containing eight tricky challenges
which they had to solve as a team without the
aid of the internet. Each challenge had a
single digit numerical answer. The first team
to solve all eight challenges and therefore
discover the correct code for the safe were able
to open the safe and get their hands on the
prize.
The winning super team was Patterson. The
students were Jazz Elliott 13P3, Toby
Chandler 12P1, Mair Baker 11P1, Isobel
Loxton 10P1, Arun Bhandari 9P2, Mia
Bhandari 8P1 and Jayne Smithson 7P2. They
cracked the code in under 45 minutes and
shared the prize with the Patterson House
charity.
Congratulations to all students who took part
in the super quiz. Each team showed great
tenacity, logic and teamwork.
If you would like to have a go at the eight
challenges, one will appear in BartholoNews
each week; see below for this week’s. Answer
on page 6.
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OUR FUTURE DOCTORS Four students in Year 13 could be among our
future doctors as they have received offers to
study medicine from some of the UK’s top
universities.
Congratulations to Emily Light, Elizabeth
Philip, Lewis Rogers and Luke Wilson who
have succeeded in gaining these offers
following a rigorous application process which
included interviews. They are now working
hard to achieve the high grades required at
A Level.
The students are pictured with Mr Robbins,
Head of Sixth Form.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CHARITY Curnock House will be holding a
competition to guess how many 10p
coins will go around the inside of the first
floor of the Luker Hub.
Guesses can be paid for at Activity Time on
Thursday 8 May. 50p for two guesses or £1
for 5. The prize for the closest guess will be
10% of the takings up to a maximum of £50 –
so the more of you participating the better the
prize.
All the money raised will go to the Newbury
& District Cancer Care Trust who support
people in many ways when they are coping
with this illness. A lot of us will already have
used their services for family members and
Curnock are their biggest fund raiser.
We can all spare at least 50p so we are looking
for every single student to come and have a go.
Curnock House
CHARITY CAKE SALE Will Wood in 8C3 raised £66 for the Curnock
House charity by baking and selling cakes at a
coffee morning held at the Newbury Methodist
Hall.
EVERS HOUSE NEWS Awards!
Congratulations to Anna van der
Zwaluw and Sophie Linehan
(7E1) and Dylan Rees and Joseph
McLaughlin (7E2) for achieving their Good
Work Prizes recently.
At our last House Assembly, Bronze awards
were given out to Jack Bailey, Ellis Bates,
Lorna Bird, Ben Brooker, Alastair Dunn, Toby
Gale, Ethan Gallagher, Ellen Grace, Harry
Greenwood, Elle Henderson, William Joseph,
Harry Leonard, Sophie Linehan, Tyler
Loveridge, David Mitchell, Poom Narongpun,
Benjamin Potter, Imogen Scarr, Daniel
Stevenson, Georgia Stewart, Anna can der
Zwaluw, Debbie Weston and Ursula Wright
(all 7E1!) – well done!
Mr Rose, Ms Evans and Ms Willcox
DIARY DATES Fri 9 May Graduation Day for Year
11
Mon 12 May GCSE/AS Exams Start
Y12 Study Leave Begins
IMPORTANT CALENDAR AMENDMENT FOR YEAR 12 A substantial number of students are involved
in exams on Monday 9 June and Tuesday
10 of June. In the light of this, the Leadership
Team has agreed that all Y12 students will not
return to school on Monday 9 June as
indicated in the calendar. Y12 students will
now return to school on Wednesday 11 June.
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YEAR 9 APPRENTICE
CHALLENGE TEAM’S SUCCESS
As reported in the spring edition of the
Enterprise Bulletin issued at the end of last
term, five of our Apprentice Challenge teams
were put forward for the Education Business
Partnership’s new competition,
CULTIVATE. With business mentor support
our teams worked hard on their business plans
and made their presentations to the Cultivate
judges at Bayer on 24 April.
All of the students are to be congratulated on
their commitment to the challenge and their
achievements so far illustrate this. The school
was delighted to hear that three of the teams
successfully made it through to the final to be
held on 3 July!
Finalists are: Michael Seath, Mark Davies,
George Freer, Max Uden, Callum Wyatt
(pictured right during one of their mentor
sessions last term); Fiona Paus and Rachel
Coombs; Gabriel Berger, Dermot Gannon and
Callum Fletcher. These three teams will
continue to work with their business mentors
who will help them to prepare for the Final in
July. The winner of the CULTIVATE
competition, funded by RBS, will be awarded
£500 towards the further development of their
business idea so we wish them every success!
Answer to Super Challenge on page 5 :
Suduko puzzles – sum from highlighted
numbers: 2
YEAR 11 SPORTS LEADERS AND
DANCE LEADERS
Well done to the following Year 11 students
who have now passed their Sports Leader
Level 2 qualification or Dance Leaders
qualification. This has involved two years of
hard work completing units of work in school
and going into are feeder primary schools to
teach younger students sport and dance.
Year 11 Sports Leaders Bell, Colette
Bhatt, Johnny
Bingham, Ellie
Bradford, Georgina
Calkin, Millie
Davidson, William
Dodridge, Tommy
Fisher, Joseph
Green, Daniel
Harris, Oliver
Hobbs, Joe
Jones, Victoria
Landhed, Elin
Maughan, Alexandra
Mawson, Jake
Morgan, Barney
North, Jinny
Overend, Oliver
Prudden, Anna
Roy, Finlay
Ryder, Yasmin
Wallin, Jamie
Wheatland-Clinch,
Annie
Woodley, Charlotte
Year 11 Dance Leaders
Brailey-Durkin, Ellie
Burry, Jasmine
Claridge, Ella
Davenport, Fleur
Day-Langley, Jazzy
Forson, Eleana
Grady, Ellie
Groves-Way, Hannah
Grove-White, Louisa
Livermore, Madeline
Massingham, Nicole
Phillips, Lottie
Pires, Diana
Reddin, Jessica
Roberts, Abi
Scott, Sara
Sonubi, Toyin
Spillane, Emily
Tominey, Rachel
Waddington, Hannah
Watson, Imogen
Your records of achievement, certificates and
pin badges will be available for collection
during the exam season. We will get a
message to you when these are ready.
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BERKSHIRE SCHOOL GAMES COUNTY SPORTS FINALS 2 April at Bradfield College The Sportshall athletics competitions are
always exciting as the events are quite diverse
and challenging. Having performed superbly
in the first round just before Christmas the
teams were looking forward to performing in
the county final. However, for the students
their competition was in the afternoon which
meant they had the opportunity to spend the
morning in the cultural village which is
organised through the School Sport
Partnership.
Our first experience was a presentation from
Tim Baillie, an Olympic kayaker. He was
inspirational and shared his stories of sadness
and defeat which then led to amazing success
in the London 2012 Olympics where he and
his team mate Etienne Scott achieved a gold
medal.
The students then had their photographs taken
with the Rugby World Cup, which I have to
say is rather stunning. They had the
opportunity to take part in a variety of ball
skills activities and then finished with some
professional golf coaching. This was a brilliant
morning with some excellent opportunities
which the students thoroughly enjoyed.
Now it was back to reality – the competitions.
Both the boys and the girls performed to their
very best and were certainly challenged with
some excellent performances from Langley
Grammar and Garth Hill in the boys’
competitions and for the girls Windsor and
St Bernard’s were the main challengers.
Congratulations to the following girls who
through an excellent team effort finished in
second place out of seven schools with a team
total of 212 points. L Bell, M Dummett,
M Pope, I Lainsbury, O Sanderson,
M Eldridge, S Harrop.
The boys worked tirelessly throughout the
competition and finished a creditable fifth out
of seven teams with a total of 178 pints. Well
done to O Barnes, J Pemberton, J Power,
S Hart, H Seymour, M White, B McCarthy
and D Rees.
We also took part in the girls’ rugby
competition which was a great experience for
our girls who have been training hard all
season and were keen to enter. They too
enjoyed all the activities in the morning and
played rugby in the afternoon. Thank you to
Miss Brenton who worked with the girls to
coach and support them through some tough
matches. I admire the girls for their strength
of character and determination not to give in.
They took some incredibly hard hits but still
got up and carried on. Despite not winning a
game they worked tirelessly on pitch and kept
going to the bitter end. Well done and thank
you to E Lalande, M Mabbatt, G Martin, J
Hounslow, F Eva, A Stephens, A Thiel, E
Waters, A Hathrill, H Parker, C Gee, A Stone
and A Coote.
Picture gallery
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